Landscaping blocks form an attractive walkway up a slope.
Landscaping blocks are a durable, attractive material you can use in a variety of ways to improve the appearance and usefulness of a slope. Whether you're building a pathway or edging, installing blocks on a slope calls for careful preparation so the structure will last for years. You can paint blocks or choose molded shapes to add style to a sloped landscape.
Instructions
1. Walk the slope and use wooden stakes to mark out the areas where you plan to add landscaping blocks. If laying a walkway, look for spots where the incline is slight and wind the walkway so that some areas are horizontal to the slope to give people a rest.
2. Connect the wooden stakes with a piece of string to create an outline for the walkway.
3. Clear the areas within the outline of grass, weeds and debris with a shovel. Continue to dig until the surface is eight inches below the ground.
4. Tamp the surface of the soil with a tamping tool or a mechanical plate compactor. Tamping the soil will prevent the stones from shifting as the ground settles.
5. Spread a four-inch layer of gravel over the surface of the walkway and tamp it. Lay landscape fabric over the gravel to inhibit weed development. Pour a two-inch layer of sand over the fabric.
6. Insert metal edging along both sides of the walkway to prevent them from shifting over time.
7. Lay the first landscaping block on the bottom corner of the walkway and tap it with a rubber mallet to press it into the sand. Place the next block beside the first one, tapping it with the mallet. Continue laying blocks in your chosen pattern, leaving a consistent spacing of 1/8 inch between each block.
8. Pour fine-grained sand over the walkway once the last block is in place. Use a stiff broom to work the sand between the crevices of the blocks and sweep off the excess.
9. Mound gravel along the sides of the walkway as a border to direct excess water away from the walkway. Subsurface water can destabilize your foundation or cause frost heave damage.
